First set of stones

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I'm looking to get into sharpening freehand. I currently use an edgepro professional I got off of craigslist years ago and use a shapton pro 1k and 5k with it, as well as some coarse diamond plates with it for older abused knives. I think its been helpful in helping me understand whats going on when sharpening and easily forming burrs. I can get great edges on my knives but I'm ready to make the jump to freehand.

With JNS's sale their set of JNS 300, 800, red aoto, 6k comes down to a little over $200. Being that i'm not in a rush for stones, would this be a good "everything I need" set to get or should I just focus on better stones for their grits and accumulate over time?
 
I'm looking to get into sharpening freehand. I currently use an edgepro professional I got off of craigslist years ago and use a shapton pro 1k and 5k with it, as well as some coarse diamond plates with it for older abused knives. I think its been helpful in helping me understand whats going on when sharpening and easily forming burrs. I can get great edges on my knives but I'm ready to make the jump to freehand.

With JNS's sale their set of JNS 300, 800, red aoto, 6k comes down to a little over $200. Being that i'm not in a rush for stones, would this be a good "everything I need" set to get or should I just focus on better stones for their grits and accumulate over time?
My first thought is to replace the 2 Edge Pro Shapton pro stones that you currently use with the same but larger free hand sharpening stones. They are great stones, proven performers. And since you are used to using them the only new thing you will be introducing into sharpening is the free hand part. I'd start there. They are also pretty reasonably priced.
 
I've had my eye in that very same set of stones from JNS for a while. I think that is a really great starter set. you are going to get a bunch of recommendations and different opinions. You are going to be well covered with a quality course, medium and finer grit stone if you are looking for a set that will last a long time.

The problem with this forum is that you (ok, me) can be easily drawn into trying all sorts of stones....
 
Yes! I have too many stones right now!
that 20% on stones is a nice deal from JNS.
 
Do you have any experience with the shaptons vs the jns? I like the idea of the shaptons because I know the feel of them and eliminating that aspect as I learn to freehand but also for what would be the same price if the Jns synthetics are a better I wouldn’t mind the learning curve thrown in.

Also for thinning would the 300jns and 350 shaptons be good stones for the job?[/QUOTE]
 
I only have the JNS 300, and other than being a little narrow for my taste, it is an outstanding stone. One of my favorites.

I don't think that the JNS sale applies to synthetics, though.
 
@TSF415 I was in the same position, and I ended up not getting it. The stone set came to 1400 after the discount and I just couldn't find anything to make it 1500 for the free shipping, lol

I used a borrowed JNS300 last night and I loved it. I think @Matus mentioned that the Gesshin 320 is very close to that, so I might end up getting one instead.
 
@TSF415 I was in the same position, and I ended up not getting it. The stone set came to 1400 after the discount and I just couldn't find anything to make it 1500 for the free shipping, lol

I used a borrowed JNS300 last night and I loved it. I think @Matus mentioned that the Gesshin 320 is very close to that, so I might end up getting one instead.
Same! lol. I couldn't find anything for $15. Anyways doesn't matter now.

Is the JNS300 or Gesshin320 good for thinning?
 
@TSF415 I can't comment on the thinning part since I'm not at that level yet, but I can confirm what @Matus said about how similar the G320 feels to the JNS300.

I received my G320 yesterday, and I have in my possession a JNS300 that I've used a couple times. The G320 feels very similar in hardness compared to the JNS300. I have not used any other low grit stones so I can't compare these to others. The G320 does feel a tad faster to me.

I also got a G2000 and G Synthetic Natural yesterday. Now that's my first stone set :)
 
@TSF415 I can't comment on the thinning part since I'm not at that level yet, but I can confirm what @Matus said about how similar the G320 feels to the JNS300.

I received my G320 yesterday, and I have in my possession a JNS300 that I've used a couple times. The G320 feels very similar in hardness compared to the JNS300. I have not used any other low grit stones so I can't compare these to others. The G320 does feel a tad faster to me.

I also got a G2000 and G Synthetic Natural yesterday. Now that's my first stone set :)
I'd like to hear more about your experiences with the synthetic natural. I recently bought a Gengetsu and asked Jon to finish it with the synthetic natural, the edge had a refined toothyness, very nice.
 
I'd like to hear more about your experiences with the synthetic natural. I recently bought a Gengetsu and asked Jon to finish it with the synthetic natural, the edge had a refined toothyness, very nice.

I'll try, but I honestly don't think I'll know enough to really tell you. Matus vouches for it though, and I trust his taste in knives so I took the plunge.

First impression is that it's really not as soft as people make it to be.
 
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